Willem Houwink

1920 - 2016

Dr.Willem "Wim" Houwink

March 25, 2016

Former University of Nevada, Reno Professor Willem Houwink, a popular instructor in economics from 1957 to 1983, died in Walla Walla, WA on Good Friday, March 25, 2016, shortly before his 96th birthday. He was born in the small town of Meppel, Holland in 1920, son of Roelof and Ella Smid Houwink, where his family could trace its roots back to 1453. He loved tennis as a boy and was the Dutch national Junior Champion as a teenager two years in a row. He was a lifelong fan of the sport, as well as being an advocate of physical fitness, which he practiced well into his 90s. He was the youngest to graduate from his high school with the highest grade point average. He was also the youngest to get an undergraduate degree from the University of Rotterdam. He received his doctorate in 1947 from the Netherlands School of Economics, where he worked for Professor J. Tinbergen, the first person to ever receive the Nobel Prize for Economics.

During World War II, he was a member of the Dutch underground, fighting the Nazis when his native country was occupied by Germany. In 1942, he was arrested by the Gestapo secret police and sent to the Dachau Concentration Camp in southern Germany. He was interned there from 1943-45; and he often shared his war time experiences with people and groups all over the world, because he felt it was important to learn from the past. In a recent speech he said: "On the day I arrived, I had to decide whether to give up and die or fight every single moment of every day to survive." Eventually, he realized that surviving required more than just figuring out how to stay alive. It also required living with moral strength and fighting for the right of everyone to have personal and intellectual freedom.

In 1951, following post-war espionage work behind the Iron Curtain, Dr. Houwink was granted entry into America through a private bill in Congress signed by President Truman, and he became a U.S. citizen. He worked for a major Wall Street bank for six years before going into college teaching, a choice that, over a long, distinguished career, would help hundreds of students, many of whom maintained a lifelong friendship with him.

During his time at the University of Nevada in Reno, he made many important contributions and is listed as a Gold Benefactor in the University's Honor Court.

He played a leading role in launching the Nevada Business Review; served on the Economic Education in Public Schools Committee; presided as Chairman of the Economics Department; established the UNR Honors Program; was a visiting professor in Turkey, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, England, Egypt, and Mexico. He gave lectures throughout the United States on worldwide economic affairs and free enterprise; and in 1983, he became one of the first Westerners to teach free market economics in China. In 2010, Dr. Houwink was nominated as one of the top 29 most influential overseas experts on China.

After retiring from UNR, Professor Houwink spent many months each year in China, where he became The Honorary Professor of Economics at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. While there, he helped many Chinese students come to the U.S. and study at UNR, many receiving financial support from Dr. Houwink himself. Both his Chinese and American students were taught to respect others and to learn and understand how cultures and customs differ among nations. He believed mutual trust and understanding, coupled with a rigorous pursuit of knowledge, and a strong sense of ethics, honesty, and personal integrity were the keys to forming lasting relationships among people and building the foundation on which they could live in peace and harmony with one another. In order to honor his lifelong work and dedication to others, a memorial fund has been established with the UNR Foundation. Proceeds will be used to help students engaged in some aspect of international studies at UNR. Donations may be made to the UNR Foundation 0162, Reno, NY 89557. Please note "Houwink Memorial Fund" on contributions.

He is survived by his great niece, Alice Houwink, and many former students and friends, and colleagues whom he treated as family. A special celebration in Wim's honor will be scheduled at a later date.